On the sixteenth of March, 1785, Congress voted Chan-
cellor Livingston the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, "the
amount of the extra expenses beyond his salar\' for the last
six months he continued in office as Secretary of Foreign
Affairs." It was during this month that the Council of
Revision, of which, as chancellor, Robert R. Li\'ingston was
still the principal member, vetoed an act passed by the
New York Legislature in the spring of this year, "for the
gradual abolition of slavery within this State." It seems
strangely inconsistent, that Chancellor Livingston, who like
his cousin Governor Livingston was in favour of the abo-
lition of slavery within the confederated states, and even
was a member of an abolition and manumission society,
of which Alexander Hamilton was secretan.', and Jay and
Duane were also associates, should agree to veto such an
act. But the Council of Revision's objections to this bill,
as ably reported to the New York Legislature on the 21st of
March, 1785, were, however, thoroughly sound and legiti-
mate ones, and a strong protest against denying to one class
of citizens, solely on account of their colour, rights that all
should share in common. This bill, right enough in principle, contained one clause, which practically cancelled all
the benefits it claimed to confer on a despised race. This
clause read as follows;

And be it .urther enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all
negroes and those of any description whatsoever, commonly
reported and deemed slaves, shall forever hereafter have the
privilege of being tried by a jury, in ail capital cases, according to
the course of the common law; and be it furtJier enacted by the
authority aforesaid, iJiat no Negro, Mulatto, or Mustee shall have
a legal vote in any case whatsoever.

Though accustomed to the ownership of household slaves
themselves, the leaders of the Livingston family did not
share the views of those members of the Continental Con-
gress, who objected to Jefferson's clause in the original
draft of the Declaration of Independence rightly condemn-
ing the iniquitous slave trade, and who succeeded in getting
it cancelled in committee. The clause, as it stood, was
another highly coloured denunciation of that unlucks" mon-
arch, George the Third, though, as the Americans, particu-
larly the planters in the southern colonies so largely profited
by this diabolical traffic, it was hardly justice to assign
all the blame to Great Britain! ^ Even during the war, and
while occupied by far more pressing matters. Governor
Livingston, — who fully recognised the glaring anomaly
created by a Declaration of Independence, which, in spite
of its noble platitudes concerning the Rights of Man. had
no word to say in condemnation of the laws which retained
in slavery thousands of Americans because they happened
to be of another colour, — had found time to send a message
to the New Jersey Legislature, during a session held in the
year 1777, in which he recommended a scheme for the
gradual manumission of the negroes. This message, how-
ever, he was asked to ^vathdraw, as that assembly did not
think they could deal with this question at such a critical

ROBERT LIVINGSTON OWNED 44 SLAVES AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH IN 1790.

Alida Livingston is the oldest daughter of Robert Livingston 1708-1790. I am a direct descendent of Robert Livingston 5xgrand father. Alida was married to James Valintine Gardner had a son called William Linneaus Gardner 1771-1835, WLGardner travelled to INdia with the East India Company when he was 21yrs old and married the princess of Delhi. Ava